Environment & Society

Catalog description

Is a capitalist economy inherently destructive to the environment, or can the economy be greened? This course provides an overview of the major topics that sociologists study to understand the relationship between society and the environment: the social construction of nature, the political economy of environmental problems, environmental inequalities, science and risk, and environmental policy. By learning a sociological perspective on the environment, students learn how peoples cultures inform their views and behavior regarding issues such as bottled water, tuna fishing, and coal mining. Ultimately, students can understand environmental issues more clearly and can devise more thoughtful, more effective strategies to address those issues. This course is the same as